Zimmerman was one of the most productive scientists in history, by the
time of his death (he was active right to the end) having published over
ten thousand pages of technical matter. Much of this came from two multi-monographic
projects, Insects of Hawaii and Australian Weevils,
but he was also the author of over two hundred shorter works. Active as
a professional in his field for over seventy years, he came to be regarded
as one of the century's foremost insect taxonomists, frequently extending
this interest in systematics to related biogeographical interpretations
as well.

Life Chronology

--born in Spokane, Washington, on 8 December 1912.
--1932: first technical paper published
--1934: takes part in expedition to Polynesia
--1936: B.S., University of California Berkeley
--1936-1937, 1940-1941: lecturer, University of Hawaii
--1936-1945: assistant entomologist, then entomologist, Bernice P. Bishop
Museum
--1938: Fiji expedition
--1940: Samoa expedition
--1946-1950: curator of entomology, Bernice P. Bishop Museum
--1948: publishes the first five volumes of his Insects of Hawaii;
wins the Hawaiian Author of the Year prize
--1951-1961: research associate, Bernice P. Bishop Museum
--1954-1956, 1958, 1966-1967, 1969-1973: National Science Foundation fellow
--1956: Ph.D., University of London
--1957: elected life fellow of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science
--1957-1958: publishes volumes six through eight of his Insects of
Hawaii
--1961-1973: entomologist, Bernice P. Bishop Museum
--1973: made a senior research fellow with the CSIRO Division of Entomology
in Australia
--1980: D.Sc., University of London
--1991-1994: publishes volumes one to three and five and six of his Australian
Weevils
--1995: receives the CSIRO Special Medal
--1998: receives the University of Hawaii's Regent's Medal
--2003: made emeritus fellow of the CSIRO Division of Entomology
--dies in New South Wales, Australia, on 18 June 2004.